Fried Taro or Potatoes

(click to enlarge)	Fried Taro or Potatoes India - South
	Serves: Effort: Sched: DoAhead:	4 side ** 45 min Part		If you want a side dish that'll really be noticed, this will fill the bill. Much like American pan roasted potatoes but with a lot more flavor. In Southern India this recipe would more often be made with Colocasia (Taro), but potatoes are also used and have better flavor in my opinion.

1-1/2
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2/3
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2
1/8
few
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3
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Potatoes (1)
-- Spices
Mustard seeds
Cumin seeds
Chana Dal (2)
Urad Dal (2)
Chili, dry (3)
Asafoetida (4)
Curry Leaves (5)
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Oil
Turmeric
Salt
Sambar Powder (6)

PREP

Boil POTATOES until cooked just through. Drain and chill thoroughly so they don't crumble when cut. Peel off skins and cut into 3/4 inch cubes with a thin bladed knife.
Stem Red Chilis and break in half. Crush CHANA DAL lightly into pieces similar to the Urad Dal. Mix together All Spices items.

RUN

Heat Oil in a well seasoned iron skillet. Stir in Spices mix and fry stirring until mustard seeds start to pop, then stir in Potatoes, Turmeric and Salt.
Fry over moderate heat, turning gently every 5 to 10 minutes until potatoes are nicely golden (about 30 minutes).
Sprinkle with Sambar Powder and serve hot.

NOTES:

Potatoes: Smaller potatoes hold together better than big ones. Yukon Gold, Klondike Goldust, and Red La Soda work well. White Rose is too crumbly after boiling to make cubes that hold together. See my Potato Page for details. Using Taro is simpler - you'll use whatever cultivar your local markets carry. See my Taro Page for details.
Dal: Chana is peeled and split chick peas (the Indian are smaller than ours); Urad, (black gram) are tiny and very white, thought the beans they are split from are black. See my Beans, Peas & Lentils page for details.
Chili: Dry red Thai chilis or Arbols will work fine. See my Chili Page for details.
Asafoetida; This amount is for pure powdered asofoetida. If you are using the common "hing powder" use 3 times as much since it's cut by about that amount.
Curry Leaves If you don't have these, omit. there's really no effective substitute. See my page Curry Leaf page for details.
Sambar Powder This is a little differnt from the Porial powder called for by the original recipe, but pretty similar. so why stock yet another masala? Here's my recipe for Sambar Powder.
U.S. measure: t=teaspoon, T=Tablespoon, c=cup, qt=quart, oz=ounce, #=pound, cl=clove in=inch